Ashdown High
by ErinMilne
Summary: Winston "Winnie" DePuh and his pals enjoy school life very much. From track meets to tests, life at Ashdown High is never dull! (High school AU)
1. Info Page

Welcome to the info page of my latest fanfiction! This isn't where the story begins, it just provides crucial info for you guys. So anyway...

The characters are all "humanized" for the sake of the fanfiction.

Pooh, Tigger, Lottie and Eeyore are sophomores. Piglet and Kessie are freshmen. Owl, Rabbit, Kanga, and Christopher Robin are teachers. Roo is a second-grader. Gopher is the janitor.

There are rival schools based on other franchises:

Toontown School: Mickey and friends

Palace Academy: Disney Princesses (and their princes)

Chernabog High: Villains

Seventh Hill Prep: Sidekicks

Pride School: Animals

This story looks at one-shots from the characters' school year - ups and downs alike, from track meets to tests! Look for chapter 1 soon!


	2. First Day of School

_September_

A CD of forest sounds gently lulled Winston "Winnie" DePuh out of dreamland. _It _can't_ be 6:30 already_, he thought as he woozily opened his eyes and stared at the display of his clock-radio. "Yep, it is," he then murmured aloud as he hit the "stop" button and rolled, still sleepy, out of bed and wandered toward the clothes he'd set out the night before. It was his favorite outfit - a simple red T-shirt and a pair of yellow pants. Paired with Winnie's golden complexion and blonde hair, it looked great. And today, of all days, Winnie wanted to look his best. It was the first day of Winnie's sophomore year, and he needed to set a good example for the freshmen.

Winnie trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen, where his mother had set out a plate of scrambled eggs for him. He discreetly slid into his chair, grabbed the honey bottle, and began to drizzle the contents over his meal. Winnie loved honey in every way, shape and form, and it had to be included in every meal he ate. Both his mother and father found this habit strange, but put up with it anyway. As Winnie began to hurriedly devour the eggs, his mother asked over her shoulder, "Did you sleep well, honey? Don't want to fall asleep in class today..."

"Yeah, I slept well. What time does the bus get here?" Winnie asked his mother. "In about half an hour," she replied. "Plenty of time to get ready, so eat slowly, Winston, please!"

Winnie muttered, "_Please_ don't call me Winston, Mother," and finished his breakfast more slowly. After putting on a pair of loafers, he went over to the bathroom, where he did a few exercises in front of the full-length mirror - mainly touching his toes - and tugged a comb through his bedhead. After packing his lunch, a PBH - peanut butter and honey sandwich - with a few carrot sticks and some yogurt and making sure his backpack contained all his notebooks and an after-school snack, Winnie said a quick goodbye to his parents and headed out the door to the bus stop. On the way, he composed a piece of poetry, as he so often did, specifically for the occasion. It went something like this:

Although the summer has been fun,  
>It's time for school once more.<br>With teachers, classmates, books, and tests,  
>It sometimes feels a chore.<p>

But there are also fun times, too,  
>Like dances, games, and fairs.<br>The other schools cannot compete,  
>But we don't put on airs.<p>

It wasn't exactly Longfellow, but Winnie liked it. He arrived at the bus stop just as the bus was pulling up. Joining the small crowd, Winnie boarded the bus, found a window seat, and mentally recited his poem the whole way to school.

* * *

><p>Ashdown High School was your typical high school, hosting ninth through twelfth grade. Winnie swept through the double front doors of the school, searching for the principal's office. During the course of his freshman year, he had memorized the locations of all the important places on campus, including the place he was looking for. As he headed down the crowded main hallway to Principal Milne's office, Winnie was suddenly knocked down flat and found himself looking into a familiar face.<p>

"Winnie! How ya doin', ol' pal?" said Winnie's attacker excitedly. Winnie grinned and responded, "Nice to see you, too, Tyler." Tyler McBounce was the same age as Winnie, and the two were best friends. Most bystanders couldn't understand how the overly energetic and uber-athletic Tyler and the quiet, artsy Winnie had ever become friends, but the two both had a fondness for the sort of "everyday adventures" that so often occurred at Ashdown High. Tyler was on every sports team Ashdown High had - he was a Tiger through and through, although he often mispronounced the teams' names as "the Tiggers".

Dressed in an orange-and-black track suit, Tyler helped his friend up and asked him, "You goin' to see ol' Prince Apple to get your schedule?" Winnie responded, "Why, yes, I am! Would you like to come with me?"

Tyler didn't answer verbally, but dragged Winnie towards the principal's office, his fiery red hair looking like a meteor among the other clumps of students. Winnie was out of breath by the time they found the office, but Tyler was as jumpy as ever. The two sophomores joined the line extending outside the office and waited for their turn.

It took the longest time, but eventually, Winnie and Tyler found themselves standing in front of Principal Milne's desk. The principal greeted them warmly - "Winston! Tyler! Did you two enjoy your summer?" Winnie spoke for both himself and his friend when he responded, "Oh, we did. Anyway, we need to pick up our schedules."

"Oh, yes," said Principal Milne, pawing through a file cabinet. "Let me see... Ah, here they are. Winston DePuh and Tyler McBounce. Looks like you share a few classes this year - and you both got the electives you signed up for." Handing Winnie and Tyler each a piece of paper, the principal sent them off with, "Have a good year!" and a wave.

Looking over their schedules, Winnie and Tyler discovered that they were in the same math and science classes. Winnie was also enrolled in a fine arts class, while Tyler had chosen P. E. as his elective. Tyler then ran off to his locker, calling back to Winnie, "TTFN! Ta ta for now!" Winnie waved at his friend, chuckled, and headed off to find his own locker.

Once Winnie found his locker, he opened his backpack and began to place his notebooks and folders inside. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Edgar Thistleton, a fellow sophomore, with a small student, likely a freshman. Winnie knew Edgar well, though the two weren't exactly friends. Edgar was the pessimistic type, always focusing on the worst in other every person and situation he encountered. Winnie, who was more of an optimist, now stepped toward the two students to see what was going on.

"You don't seem to be in the right wing of the school, little freshman," Edgar, wearing baggy grey clothing, was saying to the pink-clad freshman, who was clearly shaking in his shoes. Winnie knew where this would go, so he interrupted, "Well, Edgar, why don't you show him over to the freshman lockers? I'm sure our little friend here would be glad for the help." Edgar's eyes opened wide in surprise, but the black-haired student didn't say anything. Instead, he stepped away, mumbling something to himself.

Winnie turned to the freshman and said, "Edgar's like that all the time; don't worry about it. _Would _you like help finding the freshman lockers?" The freshman replied, "Y-y-yes, I-I-I would," but didn't say anything else. As the two walked, they shared some light words. Winnie learned that his new friend's name was Percy Squealer, that he was very bookish and had few friends, and that he lived at 5555 Beech Lane, just a block or two away from Winnie's house at 4132 Sanders Way. The two arranged to meet in the library during lunch to chat some more and do what homework they had received by then. Once Percy had found his locker, Winnie waved goodbye to him and headed back to his own locker.

On the way back to the sophomore lockers, Winnie noticed a girl surrounded by other students. Winnie hadn't seen her before, but she looked to be about his age. The girl wore a silvery fur coat over a white blouse and a gray velvet skirt, and had long, luxurious brown hair and piercing golden eyes. "My name is Lottie von Rivers," she said to the crowd. "My family is very rich, and we know all of the best people. I have high expectations for my experience here at your little public high school." _I certainly hope _she's_ not in any of my classes this year, _thought Winnie. _She's too stuck-up for my liking._

Winnie's first period was science, taught by Mrs. Austers. She was an amazing teacher, helping any student who needed it. Both Winnie and Tyler liked her immensely. Next was literature with Dr. Strigiform - extremely boring; Winnie found himself only paying attention to about half of what he was saying (mostly about himself and his famous family). Third period was math, and the teacher was the strict Mr. Bunton. Both Winnie and Tyler found themselves disliking this teacher, as did Lottie, who happened to be in this class as well, to Winnie's distaste.

After eating his lunch, Winnie met with Percy, as the two had planned. The two chatted about their days thus far. Percy had met a very nice girl in a few of his classes, named Kessie. However, he was too shy to get to know her. Winnie, in turn, told him about Lottie.

After lunch was a language class - in Winnie's case, German. Then came his favorite class, fine arts. Winnie immediately liked the teacher, a Ms. Hedgeting, and her method of asking what the students' "specialties" were. After fine arts was history and Mr. Robin. Lottie was in this class, too, and attempted to butter up the teacher, but Mr. Robin didn't care. He didn't even mind Edgar being excessively negative. Winnie knew that this was a good teacher.

After the final bell, each student was given a handout about extracurriculars and community service. As Winnie read the handout, he decided on Poetry Club for an extracurricular. _Well, _he thought as he stepped on his bus, _this is going to be an interesting year, I can tell!_


	3. Track Day

_October_

It was the day every student at Ashdown High found exciting. The day of the first track meet of the season! This was all the students could talk about in the hallways; the teachers had a hard time keeping students on task; general excitement filled the school. However, when Winnie heard the announcement over the intercom, excitement was replaced with dread.

"Will Percival Squealer, Winston DePuh, and Tyler McBounce report to Principal Milne's office immediately? Thank you," crackled the loudspeaker. Whenever a student was asked to come to the principal's office "immediately", it usually meant something bad. Winnie and Tyler were glad to leave Mr. Bunton's class early (Mr. McBounce, control yourself! And Mr. DePuh, please pay attention!), but both had pounding hearts as they walked down the hall to the principal's office. When Percy joined the pair, Winnie noticed that even he was more apprehensive than usual.

Inside Principal Milne's office, Percy blurted out immediately, "Are you going to expel us, Mr. Principal?" Principal Milne laughed out loud; the threesome was confused. "Of course not!" the principal said. "I just want you to walk over to Ashdown Elementary and hand out stickers to spread awareness of the track meet tonight. Do you think you can do that?"

Tyler shouted, "You betcha!", Percy nodded shyly, and Winnie shrugged and said, "You can count on us, Mr. Milne."_  
><em>

After getting the stickers from the secretary and surprising the janitor, the bucktoothed Mr. Diggins (S(whistle)houldn't you kids(whistle) be in class(whistle)?), the threesome walked the short distance from Ashdown High to the nearby elementary school. As Tyler and Percy stared in awe at the bright, colorful murals adorning the front office, Winnie explained their mission to the desk person, who let them on their way. Each boy took a sticker sheet and headed down one of the three hallways protruding from the office area, where still more artwork awaited them.

Winnie's first stop was a second-grade classroom. He knocked on the door, which opened with ease. Twenty-two pairs of tiny eyes immediately turned on him; the teacher remarked, "Well, it seems we have a visitor. Please make this quick, young man."

Winnie recited his hastily prepared speech - "Hello, I'm from Ashdown High, and I'd like to remind all of you to come to the track meet tonight. Go Tigers!" The kids continued to stare at him blankly, so Winnie started handing out stickers. This generated a bit of excitement, but the teacher still seemed a bit annoyed. Winnie did his best to ignore the expression on her face as he worked.

One student Winnie gave a sticker to looked a bit familiar. He was wearing shorts and a blue tee, and the name tag on his desk read, "Ryan". Winnie recalled Mrs. Austers talking about her son during some class downtime, but decided not to dwell on it and continue working. He soon had given each student a sticker and left the room, much to the teacher's pleasure.

Outside the doors to the cafetorium, Winnie, Percy, and Tyler reunited. Each boy was down to the last third of his sticker sheet. Percy had figured out that a lot of the older students were eating lunch, so the three entered the large room and handed out the rest of their stickers.

On the way back to Ashdown High, Winnie, Percy, and Tyler shared their experiences giving stickers in the classrooms. Tyler revealed that he had "sorta kinda accidentally on purpose" knocked over a bookshelf in a third-grade room, Percy related getting bothered by some fourth-graders ("Th-th-they were taller than m-m-me!"), and Winnie told about Ryan and the nasty second-grade teacher. By the time they returned to school, lunch was almost over, but the buzz about the meet had not died down. It wasn't going to, either - not until the big event itself.

* * *

><p>That night, the bleachers were packed with students from all over the Disney Unified School District. Athletes were stretching before the events; fans were chatting and cheering alike. The usual rivalries were already playing out - students from Toontown and Ashdown were arguing over whose team would score in the most events, Seventh Hillsies and Pridesters were competing to see who could cheer the loudest, and the Chernabog people were just badmouthing everyone. As he and Percy attempted to find a place to sit in the din, Winnie started thinking about a poem:<p>

Some people are fans, some people are not,  
>But all are here for fun.<br>Even if competition gets really hot,  
>All are here for fun.<p>

Winnie recited his work to Percy, who liked the poem as well. As they continued, the two recited it together, Winnie taking the changing lines and Percy whispering the "All are here for fun"s. Eventually, the two found a pair of empty seats with a good view of the track and sat down. As they were making themselves comfortable, Winnie heard a cheery voice say, "Hiya!" he turned to one side and saw a boy and a girl sitting to the immediate left of him and Percy. Both kids had black hair and *ahem* rather large ears. The boy wore a white shirt with yellow buttons and red pants, while the girl wore a deep turquoise blouse and a red skirt with white polka dots, with a deep pink bow on a headband in her hair.

"Hello," said Winnie. "Who are you?"

The boy replied, "I'm Mitchell Rodentin, but I go by Mickey. That's my twin sister Minnie. We're sophomores at Toontown. And you are...?"

"Winston DePuh, but I prefer the name Winnie. This is my friend, Percy Squealer. He's a freshman and I'm a sophomore, but we both attend Ashdown. So, are you just here to watch the races?" asked Winnie.

"Well, yeah," Mickey said, "But we're also looking of a pal of mine. Horace Horsecollar. He's a senior. Most athletic person I know. He's on all the Beaver teams and he's president of our Key Club."

Winnie replied, "Sounds like my friend Tyler McBounce. He's only a sophomore, but he's a Tiger through and through."

The two chatted until a voice from the announcer's booth cut through the crowd, proclaiming, "Ladies and gents, welcome to the first Disney Unified track meet of the school year! Our first event - the hundred-meter-hurdle. Let's see who's competing for each school, shall we? First up, representing the Toontown Beavers, Dexter Goof!" A tall, skinny kid in a red-and-blue uniform ambled to the starting position.

Mickey buried his face into his hands and murmured, "We're gonna fail this one." Winnie asked, "How do you know? Dexter hasn't even jumped yet." Mickey looked awkward. "Well, ya see, Dexter is one of my best pals, but he's not very good at sports. To be honest, he's not very good at anything. I just hope he makes it this time."

The announcer continued, "Representing the Ashdown Tigers, Tyler McBounce!" Tyler, wearing forest green and gold, raced into position behind Dexter. Winnie joined his schoolmates in cheering for their champion, and even Percy managed a "yay".

"Representing the Palace Wolves, Pocahontas Powhatan!" A copper-skinned girl with black hair, maybe a junior, in pink and white stepped confidently into line. "Representing the Chernabog Demons, Gaston LeGrand!" A muscled, black-haired senior boy swaggered into place, showing off his black and red uniform. Everyone except the Chernabog students let out a loud _boo!_

"Representing the Seventh Hill Chargers, Sven Bjorgman!" A kid with messy brown hair, probably a sophomore, looking a little uncomfortable in the brown and white uniform, slowly stepped into place. Winnie could have sworn he heard a few cheers among the Palace people, but decided to watch the meet first and investigate later. "And last but not least, representing the Pride Lions, Bambi Deerson!" A small, brown-haired, doe-eyed freshman in gold and red tiptoed into position.

Dexter was first to jump. He took a running start, but ended up stuck in the first hurdle. As the Toontown coach stepped up to help Dexter, his score was given: zero. Mickey sighed and said, "That's Dexter for you."

Tyler jumped next. He was able to clear three hurdles at a time, easily making it to the finish bar. His score was a 9.5. Winnie smiled. "That's Tyler for you."

Pocahontas's score was a 9, Gaston received a 7.5, Sven scored 8.5, and Bambi got an 8. Tyler was the clear winner of the event. As his name was announced, the crowd went wild. Mickey and Minnie clapped right alongside Winnie and Percy. By the time the meet was over, Winnie knew that he had gained a new friend in Mickey - the kind of friend that's a true kindred spirit.


End file.
